WATTON Junior Hockey Club recently hosted their annual hockey tournament at Watton Sports Centre.Boys and girls from around the county competed in a full day of junior hockey.

WATTON Junior Hockey Club recently hosted their annual hockey tournament at Watton Sports Centre.

Boys and girls from around the county competed in a full day of junior hockey.

The girls' tournament was sponsored by the Norwich & Peterborough Building Society, and the Boys by Home James Taxis of Watton.

Watton's U11 Girls maintained the progress made through the season, conceding only one goal throughout the tournament.

Watton I lost their first match 1-0 to Harleston Magpies, beat Watton II 1-0, beat Dereham 1-0, beat Magpies II 3-0, and drew 0-0 with Norwich City and Pelicans.

The girls finished in third place, with Pelicans runners-up and Magpies I the winners.

The Watton II team gained valuable match experience in their games and showed great determination. For many of the girls it was their first taste of tournament action. Despite finishing in seventh place the girls had an outstanding morning and only lost 1-0 to the tournament winners, Magpies.

The U13 Girls A team were Watton's most successful team of the day. Watton were leading 1-0 in their first game against Pelicans. In the last minute of the game Pelicans were awarded a penalty flick from which they equalised. They beat Norwich City 2-0, Old Buckenham 3-0, drew 0-0 with Dereham, beat Watton B 2-0 and lost 1-0 to Magpies. Watton A were the tournament runners-up and Magpies the winners.

As with the U11 second team, many of Watton's U13 B team had little or no tournament experience. Again the girls played well and despite finishing in seventh place, remained enthusiastic.

Old Buckenham U13 Girls were welcomed to Watton for the first time in their first season.

Watton's U11 Boys started the afternoon games in a “fast and furious” match with Dereham. Towards the end of this exciting end-to-end match Dereham were attacking the Watton goal and despite some very solid defending Dereham scored the only goal of the match.

Watton beat Norwich City 2-0 and then lost the next game in another closely-fought match against Magpies 1-0. The boys drew 0-0 with Pelicans and beat North Walsham 3-1 in their last match. Watton's U11's finished in third place, runners-up were Dereham and Magpies the winners.

The U13 Boys got off to a good start with a 1-0 win over North Walsham. They then lost 4-0 to Norwich City. They drew 2-0 with Magpies, lost 4-0 to Dereham and lost 3-0 to Pelicans. Watton's U13 Boys finished in fifth place, with Pelicans runners-up and Norwich City the winners.

Thanks to the dedicated band of committee members, parents and helpers the tournament was a great success. Not just for the hockey but for inter club co-operation too, with members of the ladies' and men's club assisting our junior umpires.